Second Chance
by Nerd Girl 1
Summary: 2D runs into Paula while out for a walk one day. He gives her a second chance because everyone deserves a second chance. I know this summary sucks :/ Don't like, don't read, simple. Cover by Psychoon on deviantART.
1. We Meet Again

**I'm in a writing mood :/ But anyway, I've been wanting to right a story with Paula in it, and the PERFECT opportunity came yesterday when Psychoon on dA mentioned there should be a CrackerPot story when they get back together, and it doesn't turn into a 2Nu story about jealousy. She's right, SO I wrote this :D Warning: If you either hate fluffy fluff. Paula Cracker, and/or CrackerPot, don't read this. Or you can, just don't bitch me about it by reviewing.**

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Lately 2D has been wandering. Wandering London's streets in search of something.

What that something is, even he doesn't know.

All he knows is that he feels _empty_. Like there's something in his life that's missing. Truth be told, he's been feeling that way for a while. Music used to fill that gap up until recently.

Now he's left with an empty feeling. Anytime he breathes it feels as if there's a hole in the middle of his heart. His stomach feels empty. His _soul _feels empty, like it was robbed of its light and left with nothing but pure darkness.

It was even starting to effect his mood. He seemed more despondent now.

The others were picking up on his vibe as well. Russel was the first to come to him.

"'D, are you okay man?" The drummer asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The singer replied, giving Russel his best smile.

"Are you sure?" Russel asked.

"Positive." 2D denied again.

Once he realized he wouldn't be able to get the singer to admit what was wrong, he sighed. "Okay. But you know, if you need to talk about something we're here." He said as he left out of the room.

Noodle was the next to come to the singer.

She knocked on his door.

"Come in." 2D called.

The guitarist stepped in to see 2D sitting on his bed solving Sudoku. She sat next to him on his bed.

"There's something bothering you isn't it?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

2D sighed and sat his puzzle to the side. "Yes…" He admitted.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Stuart nodded. "I don't feel like myself. I feel…" He searched for the right words to describe his current state.

"Like you're not complete?"

"Yeah! And I don't know how make myself not feel like this."

The Japanese woman nodded and thought for a second before speaking again.

"What usually helps you when you need to figure something out?"

2D paused and thought. "Well, going on a walk helps."

She smiled. "Then you should do that. You never know; the problem could be right in front of you and you just don't know it."

The singer sighed and hugged Noodle. "Thanks."

She hugged him back. "You're welcome." She got up and left out of 2D's room.

He got up from his bed and changed clothes before descending downstairs to tell everyone he was going out for a walk.

Ever since he's been walking the streets trying to figure out why he felt the way he felt. As the days went by he would get up, wash up, take a shower, and be out the door all day. He would walk around aimlessly, staring up and tall building and peering into little shops, all the while trying to evaluate his feelings. Often times he would get lost and have to call one of his bandmates to come and pick him up.

He was craving something to complete his life. Something that would make him feel like a whole again.

It wasn't until he saw a young man holding hands with his girlfriend did he realize what he was feeling.

He was experiencing the feeling of _loneliness_.

Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. 2D wanted someone to call his own.

"So _that's _what would fill the gap in my life!" 2D said.

He's finally figured out what's wrong with him. Now it was a matter of _finding _someone. It's been years since he's had a proper relationship, let alone _dated _someone. Even if he had any clue on how to date this day and age, he wouldn't know where to start.

"Where would I start…?" The singer thought aloud as his gaze drifted up towards the sky.

One thing he knows for sure is this; _never _go to the pub or anyplace like it.

_Those options are gone… _He thought to himself.

While mindlessly walking gazing up at the sky, he didn't see someone coming his way.

They walked right into each other. The force was strong enough to knock both of them back.

Stuart, luckily, was able to keep his balance.

Unfortunately, the other person wasn't

2D quickly grabbed her before she could fall and helped her stand back up.

"Sorry!" He apologized.

"Yeah whatever. Just get your hands…" She trailed off as she looked him in his face. She took off her dark shades, eyes widened and eyebrows perked.

"Stuart?"

2D'e eyes widened as well. "P-Paula?"


	2. Closer and Nostalgia

The two stared at each other in mild shock.

Paula blinked. "I didn't know you moved here to London."

"I didn't know you moved to London either."

Paula shifted on her foot. "I wanted to start off fresh."

2D nodded. "Me too."

"So, where ya headed to?"

2D looked around. "Uh, I don't know." He admitted. He's gotten himself lost again.

Paula looked at her watch. "Well, we can get lunch if you'd like.

The singer nodded and patted his pockets. "I've got my wallet on me so I'll pay."

Paula looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow. "You were gonna pay anyway…"

2D sighed and shook his head. _She's still Paula…_ He thought to himself. His heart sank a little for reasons unknown.

They walked to the nearest café and took a seat outdoors. They talked while waiting for the waiter.

"How's life been for you?" 2D asked.

"I found an apartment on the outskirts of Essex and got a job there. I started to hate if there after a while so I packed up and came here eight years ago. Went back to college, got a job as an accountant, and saved up and bought a small house."

2D couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Life for his former lover had been so normal. He loved being a musician, but in the past seven years things had gotten so hellish and out of control. He was in need of a break from it all.

"I hear yours has been pretty eventful." Paula said as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Yeah." The blue haired man sighed as he ran his fingers through his locks. "Mind telling me?"

"Sure." 2D took in a deep breath to brace himself.

"Well, when you left," The words escaped his lips and sounded a bit out of place. "I stayed, and we got our new guitarist in a Fed-Ex crate…" 2D never met her gaze. "We were renamed Gorillaz and made our first album. But we broke up when we went to the States and Murdoc strangled me."

Paula slowly nodded.

"A while later Noodle called us and we reformed and released the album she wrote. I slept around with a lot of women and ended up getting some pregnant." He sighed.

"Some nutcase kept stalking Murdoc, so he decided to fake Noodle's death to kill him by hiring some helicopters to shoot her windmill down, but he hired the Japanese government who were after her and actually attempted to kill her. She parachuted off the island and was swallowed up in Hell."

Paula raised her eyebrows a little.

"I moved to Paris and became a model because I truly thought Gorillaz was over. I'd probably still be there, but Murdoc hired this… _Thing _to gas me and took be to Plastic Beach, an island of rotting garbage and locked me all the way at the bottom of it with a whale swimming around my window and forced me to sing for the new album he was making. He'd built a replica of Noodle to replace her."

Paula's eyebrows were at the ceiling.

"Russel and Noodle somehow found us again and we moved here after Noodle destroyed the robot and we fought off pirates Murdoc had pissed off." He finally allowed his eyes to wander back up to Paula's by now.

Paula had her mouth open. _How is he not in some crazy shack after going through all of that? _She thought to herself.

She took the time to study his face. She could tell he'd been through a lot over the years. He had large purple bags under his eyes. And he doesn't smile as much as he did. It's like he broke and was never repaired.

She couldn't help be feel that just a small portion of it was her fault.

The waiter came and they placed their orders.

They were both silent for a while. 2D broke the silence.

"Paula?"

She looked up at him.

"Why'd you do it?"

She sighed and averted her eyes. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I wasn't ready for a committed relationship." The older guitarist said as she looked back up at the latter's eyes. "I was young, I didn't really want to be as serious as you wanted to be. I didn't realize what I did was a big mistake until it was too late."

2D nodded. Oddly, he understood. He might not have cheated on a girlfriend, but he understood not wanting to be in a committed relationship and not being ready for one.

It felt like a heavy weight on his heart had been lifted. Something deep in the pit of 2D's stomach began to flutter.

The waiter came back with their orders. They talked and ate comfortably about everything.

"Remember when Walter taped that picture of a whale in your notebook and you got so scared that you ran into the wall?" Paula said in between fits of laughter.

2D frowned. "Hey, that's not funny."

"You had this big ass knot on your forehead!" Paula laughed harder. When she noticed 2D wasn't laughing she put her hand on his.

"Oh come on Stu! Don't be like that. How old were we? 5? 7?"

2D's frown deepened. "We were 17…"

Paula stopped laughing and looked away. "Oh…" She looked back at 2D and saw that he still had an attitude with her. She squeezed his hand.

"I'm sorry. I honestly thought we were younger."

2D smirked. "Remember when I acted like a robber and mugged him?"

Paula began laughing again. "You got a picture of him pissing on himself."  
"Still got it."

"Really?" She asked as she wiped her mouth free of crumbs and reapplied her lip gloss.

"Yeah." 2D got up and dusted himself off. The waiter came with the bill and he paid it.

"I should've known. You're such a pack rat." Paula laughed as they started down the street.

The singer smirked. "Sod off." He said playfully.

"It was nice seeing you again." Paula said as they stopped at the curb to wait for passing cars.

"It was nice seeing you too." 2D grinned.

Paula wrapped her arms around 2D neck and gave his a quick kiss on the cheek.

He could feel his cheeks grow red.

"We can do this again, yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Tomorrow, 12:30?"

Paula smiled. "That sounds nice." She searched inside her purse for a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down her number when she found them. She handed it to 2D and smiled.

"Call me." And she was on her way.

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**Everything's so** **out of character . And this is a Mary-Sue of fanfictions X'D**


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